Broke press

as i stated in the other thread i loaded some 35s tonight well i broke the toggle links on my press in the precess i know im strong and all but dang lol i was looking for so i put i the die in just a half turn or so deeper and ran the ram up give it just a little pressure and bam i was pissed i got online and ordered some new ones they where 6 bucks but still thats the 2nd set iv had the first time it was my fault i installed the handle in wrong this time it was in there correct that cast alluminum just dont hold up to pressure i think it may be time for a new press in the near future!!

bummer

wow, haven't seen that before, either a freak accident or you were compressing carbon to make diamonds?

probably why lee has gone to larger linkages on their new presses

I have seen people break the linkage on the Lee classic cast press, but they were swaging bullits with them.

I have reloaded just over 2 years with my breachlock and never had this happen...

Think maybe it got into some type of bind? Was it extremely hard push the brass into the die??

Sorry it happened and now you are out of commsision until the new parts comes in. In that position, I may have ordered an extra set so if it happened again, I would have a set on hand and order a set to replace the extra...

Well Mr. Man I hope your proud of your self

I think you can use the linkage from a Lee Challenger press....it isn't cast aluminum.

I bet pathfinder can cast new parts

all i can say is bummer bummer and if i were you and my wife and kids wasn't around i would be saying a few expletives (cussing my head off) I have never owned a Lyman or knew anyone who did but i think the orange crusher is a good press as is the Hornady. I know RCBS is a great press and they are fantastic to stand behind their products. I have had my rock chucker since 1978

no it wasnt in a bind i was using the factory crimp die i always just raise it up till i see the bullet then give it a good press when i pressed it poped?? iv dont it a 1000 times i guess 1001 was to many lol

Reload3006 wrote:all i can say is bummer bummer and if i were you and my wife and kids wasn't around i would be saying a few expletives (cussing my head off) I have never owned a Lyman or knew anyone who did but i think the orange crusher is a good press as is the Hornady. I know RCBS is a great press and they are fantastic to stand behind their products. I have had my rock chucker since 1978

yea i wanted to but i didnt lol what really pissed me of is i wanted to resize some brass after i was done crimping i did find out im not crimping that style bullet anymore for some reseon they want hold they work better with out a crimp i was just looking at a rcbs jr on ebay bid is at 30 dollers

RichBirdHunter wrote:I bet pathfinder can cast new parts

yea that was the first thought that came across my mind was i need to call path lol

wait to bid until there is less than 45 seconds on the auction that keeps a#$holes from running the bid up on ya. good luck

I hate to see you switching brands because of this. Those are excellent press's. I guess if I was in your shoes I would as well. Mine has been working strong for just about 2 years now. I now have an RCBS press RS3 and that is not because of the Lee Press, it wa one of them deals that was good at the time...

If you need a press, I will be happy to let you use my Lee Breachlock. I have it laying on the shelf not being used at the moment. Once I get things moved around, it is my plan to have the RCBS set up for one rifle and the Lee for the other rifle and my new press for all handguns....

oh dont get me wrong im not swiching brands i love lee products i already ordered the parts to fix my press i figured id just get a little bit of a bigger one so i can do my crimping on iv been wanting a bigger one anyway to do my cast resizing and eventually swaging on no im not giving up on lee

Dang Dart, hate to hear your press broke. I broke the links on my lee challenger press a year ago but unlike you, I was overstressing the heck out of it. For the heck of it I tried casting some out of aluminum and it actually worked - a little rough but they worked until I cracked them again. Lesson to self- don't try to swage on a lee press !!!
It was the heaviest (only) press I had at the time and I wanted to see what it would stand. After the second time I got the lee turret press. One of these days when I grow up I'ma gonna get me a rock chucker too

In the words of "the dude"
Bummer Man...
This is a bummer man...
It's a bummer.

Maybe you oughta' have some steel ones fabbed-up.

When your new links come in you should make a pattern of them before you ever install them. Then make a set out of steel to replace the aluminum one. I bet they wouldn't break again?
I hate cast aluminum for any working part of any machine, it has always spelled "Failure" in my experience. Machined aluminum from a solid piece of bar stock is plenty strong, but cast aluminum is cheap junk.

Sorry guys, I love Lee products but using cast aluminum on such an integral part of a press is piss poor engineering. That should be one of the strongest parts of a reloading press in my opinion no matter who makes it.
Dart, it wouldn't take me but one time of going through what you are and I would already have a set made from steel.

I'm with mohunter. Aluminum is not ductile enough and the cheaper cast aluminum pieces are almost like that dreaded pot metal they used to make carburetors out of.

The steel linkages on some of the other lee presses are pretty stout though. The steel is less prone to fatigue because it's more ductile and less brittle. The steel ones are also thicker.

yea i agree with you mo but i dont have any way of making them if i could i would i dont have any machine tools or steel thick enough to make them i am gonna get me another press for the heavy stuff crimping swaging sizing cast bullets etc and use my lee primarly for bullet seating and resizing pistol brass

Hey Dart.
Sorry I missed this thread somehow. Id be happy help you out. We can recast new ones or make steel ones or both Let me know.

dartfreak75 wrote:yea i agree with you mo but i dont have any way of making them if i could i would i dont have any machine tools or steel thick enough to make them i am gonna get me another press for the heavy stuff crimping swaging sizing cast bullets etc and use my lee primarly for bullet seating and resizing pistol brass

Dartfreak, I have been in your shoes a while back. I had a lee press that I broke the same link sizing pistol brass on. Guess it didnt like the crimped primers. I was not happy when it happened but what can you do its done. I thought about making new links out of steel but gave up on that idea. I ended up buying a used RCBS JR2 press and could not be happier. I sold the lee press for next to nothing since it was just collecting dust. Since switching to the RCBS press I now have 3 RCBS presses. 2 JR2's, a Rock Chucker, and I also have a Redding Boss press and a Lee 1000.
One thing I would recommend if you do much rifle loading and are in the market for a new press is look for the taller press like the new Rock Chucker I think its called the Rock Chucker Supreme, or the Redding Big Boss press just to name a few. They are slightly taller and make seating bullets on those longer cases a little easier.
Tripples

Pathfinder wrote:Hey Dart.
Sorry I missed this thread somehow. Id be happy help you out. We can recast new ones or make steel ones or both Let me know.

There you go Dart, I'd suggest you let the man help you out.
If I had the equipment that pathfinder has I could make you a real nice steel copy, but he has his own personal machine shop already so my buck is on pathfinder!

+ 1 For Pathfinder. Get them linkages made from steel, you will love it....

Mohunter wrote:

Pathfinder wrote:Hey Dart.
Sorry I missed this thread somehow. Id be happy help you out. We can recast new ones or make steel ones or both Let me know.

There you go Dart, I'd suggest you let the man help you out.
If I had the equipment that pathfinder has I could make you a real nice steel copy, but he has his own personal machine shop already so my buck is on pathfinder!

Thanks MO. Yeah Im always happy to help ATG family members!

yeah get pathfinder to make some for you . this makes about two times its happen I broke it once before i gave it to dart. that part of the press is just to weak.